Israeli drones dropped four grenades near UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon, the agency’s force said on Wednesday, in what it described as “one of the most serious attacks” on its personnel since a November ceasefire.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil, said the Tuesday morning attack came as it was clearing a road to a UN position close to the Israeli border, adding that no one was hurt.
The attack came despite Unifil informing the Israeli military in advance of where and when it would be conducting roadwork in south Lebanon. It was “one of the most serious attacks on Unifil personnel and assets” since the November ceasefire that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war, the force said.
Peacekeepers were working to clear roadblocks preventing access to a UN position south-east of the village of Marwahin when an Israeli drone dropped one grenade 20 metres away and three more 100 metres away from UN personnel and vehicles. After the attack, Israeli drones were seen returning towards Israel.
The force stopped the work “out of concern for the safety of peacekeepers following the incident”, Unifil said. It added that any attack on peacekeepers or interference with its mission was a serious violation of international law and that it was the responsibility of the Israeli military to ensure the safety of UN forces in south Lebanon.
The attack came days after the UN security council ordered the withdrawal of the peacekeeping mission at the end of next year after nearly half a century, following intense US and Israeli pressure.
The peacekeeping force was first established in 1978 to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon, but after the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war was tasked with monitoring violations of UN resolution 1701, which acted as a ceasefire. Unifil cannot use force except in cases of self-defence, but instead notifies the Lebanese army of ceasefire violations.
Israeli forces attacked Unifil peacekeepers more than two dozen times during the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war that ended in November, while Hezbollah also hit the peacekeeping mission on several occasions. Peacekeepers are considered civilians under international law and intentional targeting of them is illegal.
Israel has long accused Unifil of being lax on Hezbollah, a claim the force rebuffs. The US in recent months has drawn closer to Israel’s position and backed the ending of the mission – a move it styled as boosting the sovereignty of the Lebanese army over its own country.
The peacekeeping force has also come under pressure from Hezbollah, with patrols frequently blocked by local residents, due to a popular perception that Unifil is serving Israeli interests in the area.
The government of Lebanon, for its part, relies on Unifil as a buffer with Israel and as support for its underequipped and understaffed army.
The government is drafting a plan to take concrete steps to disarm Hezbollah and other armed non-state groups in the country, with the Lebanese army tasked with carrying out the plan. The Hezbollah-Israel war severely weakened the group, and in combination with the ousting of its longtime ally, the former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, loosened the militia’s tight grip on the country.
Unifil has helped the army in its disarmament of south Lebanon, which is part of the November ceasefire agreement. Israel was also meant to fully withdraw from south Lebanon under the terms of the ceasefire, but has said it will not do so until Hezbollah is fully disarmed.
The Lebanese government has condemned Israel’s continued presence in Lebanon post-ceasefire, as well as its near daily airstrikes on the country, which it says are aimed at preventing Hezbollah from reconstituting itself.
The continued airstrikes have bolstered Hezbollah in its narrative that the militia is needed to defend the country – a narrative the Lebanese government has rejected as it seeks to restore its monopoly on violence.
